Discussion Intel’s Unified Core: There is hope

[Quintessa]

P/E are getting replaced by Unified Core based on atom but LBT wants that they keep HT with going unified

Right, "Unified Core" ≠ "Big Core Lite". It's more like Intel fusing P/E DNA into one scalable block (closer to beefy Atom lineage) while keeping HT to avoid the "one-thread-per-core" efficiency ceiling.

also N3B didn't clock much high lol

Yeah, early silicon's not screaming. Apple's M3 barely stretches past 4GHz, and that's with insane power management. If Panther Lake Unified Cores on N3B are hitting mid-4s stable, that's already a win for mobile/laptop.
LBT seems to be betting:

• Simplify scheduler hell (one core type, no E/P juggling)
• Keep HT for bursty desktop loads
• Pray TSMC's N3B/N2 ramps thermals enough to not choke clocks

 

[poke01]

Right, "Unified Core" ≠ "Big Core Lite". It's more like Intel fusing P/E DNA into one scalable block (closer to beefy Atom lineage) while keeping HT to avoid the "one-thread-per-core" efficiency ceiling.

Yeah, early silicon's not screaming. Apple's M3 barely stretches past 4GHz, and that's with insane power management. If Panther Lake Unified Cores on N3B are hitting mid-4s stable, that's already a win for mobile/laptop.
LBT seems to be betting:

• Simplify scheduler hell (one core type, no E/P juggling)
• Keep HT for bursty desktop loads
• Pray TSMC's N3B/N2 ramps thermals enough to not choke clocks

Apple moved on from N3B, M4 is clocking up to 4.5GHz on N3E

I hope 18A clocks higher than N3B Arrow lake-H parts

 

[511]

Apple moved on from N3B, M4 is clocking up to 4.5GHz on N3E

I hope 18A clocks higher than N3B Arrow lake-H parts

I am hoping for 5.5 GHz lol with 0 IPC Improvement

 

[adroc_thurston]

Apple moved on from N3B, M4 is clocking up to 4.5GHz on N3E

It's not just the node there.

 

[Quintessa]

I hope 18A clocks higher than N3B Arrow lake-H parts

Arrow Lake-H stuck on N3B is basically the sacrificial lamb. It's why you see those middling 4.2 - 4.3GHz ceilings, thermals + voltage headroom just aren't there.
18A? Totally different ballgame:

• Gate-all-around + PowerVia should free up ~10 - 15% more usable power budget.
• Intel's own target whispers: ~5GHz+ sustained on mobile SKUs, higher for desktop (5.5 - 6.0GHz flirting territory).

If Panther Lake/18A delivers that, Intel leapfrogs both N3B Arrow Lake and N3E Apple in clocks, at least until N2 hits.